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FYI

A Department of Labor publication, Selecting an
Auditor for Your Employee Benefit Plan (
www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/selectinganauditor.pdf ), identifies the
AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center ( www.aicpa.org/ebpaqc ) as a
resource for companies whose plans have 100 or more participants.
Under the Employee Retirement Security Income Act (ERISA), such plans
must be audited annually by an independent qualified public
accountant. The center lists CPA firms that have joined to demonstrate
their commitment to performing high-quality pension plan audits.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its
2004–2009 strategic plan (
www.sec.gov/strategicplan ). It identifies the values and goals
on which the commission will base its activities during the next five
years, describes related SEC initiatives and discusses how the
commission might monitor progress.

David M. Walker, U.S. comptroller general, appointed
Robert F. Dacey, CPA, the Government Accountability Office’s chief
accountant. In his new position, Dacey also serves as a member of the
Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board.

The Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) appointed
Donald M. Young, managing director of Young & Company, to
membership on the Financial Accounting Standards Board, effective
January 1, 2005 (
www.fasb.org/news/nr101404.shtml ). Young will complete the term
of Gary S. Schieneman, who has resigned and whose term would have
ended June 30, 2008. Robert E. Denham, FAF chairman, said Young’s
combination of skills and experience offers “a valuable user
perspective.”

The SEC selected H. David Sherman, CPA, as an academic
accounting fellow in the Division of Corporation Finance for a
one-year term. Among other duties he will address issues involving
difficult and unusual accounting, auditing and financial reporting
questions, as well as review filings by public companies to identify
significant accounting and disclosure problems.

Corrections
In “Section 404 Compliance in the Annual
Report” in the October issue, the Sample Management Report on
page 45 should begin, “An internal control material weakness
is a significant deficiency, or combination of them, that
results in more than a remote likelihood that a material
misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements
will not be prevented or detected.”

The November News
Digest (Accounting, page 15) contained an incorrect Internet
address for questions and answers on implementing Statement
of Position (SOP) 03-1, Accounting and Reporting by
Insurance Enterprises for Certain Nontraditional
Long-Duration Contracts and for Separate Accounts.
The correct address is
www.aicpa.org/members/div/acctstd/general/recent_tpas.asp
.

Also in November, an incorrect Internet
address for the AICPA Business Valuation and Forensic and
Litigation Services Community appeared in both “Damages
Aren’t Always Patently Obvious” (Resources, page 41) and
Smart Stops on the Web (“Add a New Credential”). The correct
address is
http://bvfls.aicpa.org .